Wichita State ranked No. 16 Temple stuns Shockers in 2-pt game

Friday

Feb 2, 2018 at 1:07 PM

The Wichita Eagle

PHILADELPHIA (TNS) — It was a 45-minute gut punch in Philadelphia.

Temple stunned No. 16 Wichita State with an 81-79 victory in overtime on Thursday at the Liacouras Center, taking the lead on two free throws by Obi Enechionyia with 18 seconds left. Markis McDuffie’s open 3-pointer missed with five seconds remaining and the Owls prevailed in a game where WSU led for more than 36 minutes.

WSU fell to 17-5 overall and 7-3 in the American Athletic Conference, severely damaging its chances at a regular-season title. WSU is three games behind Cincinnati. Temple improved to 12-10 and 4-6 in conference play.

The Shockers missed 14 of their final 15 3-pointers.

The loss spoiled a night where senior Shaquille Morris became the 46th player in WSU history to reach 1,000 career points and the eighth in coach Gregg Marshall’s tenure. Morris finished with a team-high 24 points and nine rebounds, while Austin Reaves added 20 points off the bench.

The Owls rallied down the stretch to force overtime thanks to a pair of clutch baskets by Shizz Alston. His fadeaway jumper tied the score at 72 with 2:16 remaining, but WSU responded with a pick-and-roll between Landry Shamet and Morris that resulted in a go-ahead bucket.

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